Global DMS Blog

Housing prices and home equity have steadily climbed since 2012, creating an increased demand in HELOCs from homeowners looking to cash in. With this demand expected to grow over the coming years, lenders have been presented with a unique opportunity to take advantage of these loan-types – especially as refinances continue to dwindle.

Successful home equity lending, however, strongly depends on a lender’s ability to close these loans as efficiently as possible, which starts with accurate and timely valuations.

HELOCs don’t always require full appraisals, meaning lenders can turn to AVMs and other alternatives to acquire the property values they need. That said, how lenders access and incorporate these valuable tools into their valuation process is important to consider.

Appraisal management technologies—like eTrac® Enterprise—not only provide direct access to these useful tools, they give lenders an instant understanding of their collateral upfront and compliantly manage it throughout the entire valuation process to ensure efficiency and accuracy.

These technologies also remove the need for duplicate data entry thanks to secure software integrations, which ensure that all the info collected from the AVM or other alternative product is instantly streamlined into the lender’s appraisal platform.

In addition, a valuation management system like eTrac also has the ability to automate routine tasks (such as running AVMs, reviews, etc.) and will integrate with a lender’s existing platforms (such as their LOS) to help expedite the process even further. This is especially beneficial when a full appraisal is required.